Destruction / Shrapnel – Glasgow Audio

NOTE: this is the second part of the review. I [Mosh] covered the two opening acts. I missed a fair bit of Shrapnel as I was interviewing Evil Invaders and had to leave partway through Destruction due to having the kids at home. Hence I left coverage of those two acts in the capable hands of Sean. Take it away, Sean…

Hey guys, it’s Sean. When Mosh gave me the opportunity to go the Destruction show in Glasgow, I couldn’t resist. The band said themselves it had been a very long time since they had last visited Scotland so I think for everyone, fans and bands alike, this show was going to be a blast.

I almost didn’t make it to the gig due to working commitments. All week I had been asking my manager to have Friday night free, even if I worked Friday morning but I had no such luck. Fortunately due to much needed service from myself on Thursday night, I racked up so much overtime that I got the all-clear to go the gig on Friday morning – Hallelujah!

And what a night it was. Evil Invaders and Lost Society (the first two bands) thrashed the tiny venue with a frenzied energy and all-round good vibes leading to the metal mania – see Mosh’s review for more details!

Next up was Shrapnel. Showcasing material from their debut album The Virus Conspires released earlier this year via Candlelight records, the band had a much more serious and darker sound in contrast to the first two bands. With a menacing thrashing rage and a more death metal edge to their sound, coupled with vicious vocals, the band are definitely much more up my street personally and I loved their aggression.

Unfortunately the crowd didn’t seem as receptive to Shrapnel which I think is a bit of a shame since they certainly had my head banging. I think it could be down to simply not knowing the material and as a result, not being sure what to do. I will admit that I myself hadn’t listened to the band much but I was aware of them and that The Virus Conspires had received a lot of favourable reviews and as such I was open to their music.

Hopefully Shrapnel will be much better received next time they’re around in Glasgow. They certainly won me over with their brutal brand of thrash and I will definitely be buying their album when I have more money to spend on music. Let’s hope they won a few more fans at this gig and they can enjoy a better crowd next time!

Next up was the one we all were waiting for Destruction: The German Thrash Legend!

What a rapturous return to Scotland! As soon as the immortal intro to their debut EP Sentence of Death (30 years old this year) rang out the growls of “TOTAL DESTRUCTIIIIOOOONN!!!!” the band burst onstage into the thrash classic “Total Desaster” which instantly set the fans into a frenzy. Throughout the entire show the energy never let up through a mix of Destruction classics old and new. Everyone screamed along, and moshed Audio to the ground to ragers such as “Thrash ‘Til Death”, “Mad Butcher”, “Black Death” (a gem they rarely play live) and “Hate is My Fuel”.

Destruction (Photo credit: Moshville Times)

I still think about the gig today, almost a week since the show and it’s difficult to say more than “IT WAS FUCKING AWESOME!!!!!!!” As I’m writing this and trying to keep my Higher English qualification in check, I’m struggling. It was certainly one of the best nights of my life in a long time!

Destruction’s setlist couldn’t have been better, and the crowd loved it. They even took fan requests resulting in a choice between them playing “Death Trap” or “Tormentor” from their immortal first full-length thrash classic Infernal Overkill. The crowd went with the former, a personal favourite of mine so naturally I raged in the pit and screamed along. Another highlight is definitely when they played “Eternal Ban” with Schmier asking the crowd “Who here plays music? Who plays thrash metal?”. A roraring response came from the crowd showing that the spirit and the fire of thrash metal, and heavy metal in general will never disappear. It feels good to be a part of this music scene and this gig shows that the heavy metal scene is definitely alive in Scotland. My response to anyone who was at the Destruction show who might be reading this – contact me! Let’s get a band going!

Following this more Destruction classics came with “Release From Agony” and “Curse the Gods” – the song that first got me into Destruction. I burned myself out on this one, slamming in the pit and screaming along to the enduring everlasting refrain of “Curse the Gods! Too many people have died! Curse the Gods! You fools have died for a lie!”

Ending on the encore of “The Butcher Strikes Back”, Destruction well and truly thrashed Glasgow. I’ve kept repeating myself so much in this review but it’s difficult to say more. Seriously, if you get the chance, go and see Destruction – you will not be disappointed.

On a side note, I had the privilege of interviewing Destruction and Lost Society after the show [to be published shortly – Mosh] and both bands expressed a desire to return to Scotland. We definitely showed them we want to see them here and they both told me they’d love to come back hopefully very soon. With a bit of luck, and awesome booking agents and promoters (Glasgow promoters – get in contact!) we might see them this time next year. Here’s hoping!

Big thanks again to Mosh as always for the opportunity to go to the gig and interview the bands, an even bigger thanks to the tour manager Enzo for allowing us to interview the bands and helping us when he was really busy with all of the work he had to do, and extra special thanks of course to Samy, Mirko and Arttu of Lost Society and Schmier and Mike from Destruction for opportunity to do my first ever interviews with them (thanks too for the beer and whisky!) – you guys were the coolest, friendliest people and hopefully we can see you again very soon!

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